Safety-envelope



'(NqModelQ) J. E. DOHEN.

SAFETY ENVELOPE.

No. 549,884. E Patents d Nov. 12,1895.

, WITNESSES: v INVENTIOR I xflm 3% M. fi 4 BY Q ATTORNEY.

ANDREW EGRMMM. PHOTO-UTHQWASKINEYON. 0.6.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. DOHEN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SAFETY-ENVELOPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No. 549,884, dated November 12, 1895.

Application filedAugust 14, 1895. Serial No. 559,305. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. DOHEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Brooklyn, Kings county, State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety-Envelopes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates especially to the construction of envelopes so made as to prevent fraudulent tampering with or examination of their contents by unauthorized persons, and has for its object the provision of an envelope of simple construction, so arranged that after being sealed it cannot possibly be opened without destroying the envelope or mutilating in such a manner as to prevent rescaling.

To attain the desired end my invention consists, essentially,in an envelope provided with minute perforations in its body beneath the top and bottom flaps, a portion of the front of the envelope being cut so as to turn in and adhere to the contents of the envelope when used, and my invention also involves certain other novel and useful combinations and arrangement of parts, and peculiarities of construction and operation, all of which will be hereinafter first fully described, and then pointed out in the claim..

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, Figure 1 is a plan view of the front of an envelope-blank as cut and perforated before folding and securing of the side and bottom flaps. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the opposite side of the blank with the side flaps folded into place. Fig. 3 is a view of the completed envelope, showing the small front flap as turned in and adhering to the contents of the envelope, the envelope being ready to seal up.

Like numerals of reference wherever they occur indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

1 is the body of the envelope having top flap 2, bottom flap 3, and end flaps at and 5.

At 6 and 7 the flaps 4 and 5 are cut, and the spaces between the said cuts 6 and the ends of the flaps are perforated, as at 8 and 9. A blank space 10 is left in this perforated surface upon which the date of posting may be printed or written. Cuts 11 and 12 are formed at the bottom of each flap 4, and 5, and the spaces which come beneath the lower flap 3 when the envelope is made up are perforated, as at 13 and 14. The formations of the cuts 6, 7, 11, and 12 and the perforations 8, 9, 13, and 14 are accomplished at the same time as the cutting out of the envelope-blank, and consequently the cost of producing the blank is not appreciably greater than in the ordinary commercial envelope.

The blank is folded, pasted, and gummed in the usual manner, gum being also applied to the small flap in the front of the top of the envelope formed by the cuts 7. In folding the envelope the perforations 13 and 14 will be covered by the flap 3, and the envelope is now ready for use. In preparing for mailing the date may be filled in upon the small flap, which is then moistened and turned inward and downward against the inclosed letter, as in Fig. 3, and then the flap 3 of the envelope'is sealed in the usual manner.

When constructed and arranged in accordance with the foregoing description, it is impossible to tamper with the contents of my envelope without so mutilating the envelope as to be at once apparent, no matter how carefully it is resealed. If subjected to the action of steam, the moment the flaps are raised the perforated portions of the body of the envelope beneath them will give away, tearing off at the cuts, and the small turned-in flap will remain adhering to the inclosed letter, being torn through the perforations away from the body of the envelope. After such ruptures it is impossible to reseal the envelope and place it in its original condition.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a safety envelope, the body whereof is of the ordinary construction, as set forth, a series of minute perforations in close proximity to each other, running along the inner flaps, entirely beneath the outer flaps; a series of cuts 6, 7 11 and 12 entirely severing the substance of the inner flaps, and an inwardly turning flap at the top of the front of the envelope, beneath the outer or sealing flap and formed by the cuts 6 and 7, having a series of perforations along its base, the whole combined and arranged to operate, substantially as shown and described.

JOHN E. DOHEN.

Witnesses:

A. M. PIERoE, B. M. DONALDSON. 

